The fundamental idea at the core of Buddhism is the three jewels of Buddhism or the three treasures of Buddhism. Lord Buddha on realizing the manner in which the sufferings have engulfed the whole aspects of our life upon his enlightenment understood the need for the people to understand the basic nature of suffering. This was primarily the reason behind Lord Buddha delivering his first sermon on the four noble truths at the present-day Varanasi.
With the inherent impermanence and the temporariness nature of mortal beings in this realm and the need for us to liberate ourselves from the hold of attachment, Lord Buddha wanted us to take refuge in the three jewels of Buddhism for us to escape from the world of sufferings.
“Therefore, Ānanda, dwell as a lamp unto yourself, Refuge unto yourself, seeking no other refuge;
With Dhamma as your lamp, Dhamma as your refuge, seeking no other refuge.”
Mahaparinibbana sutta
- I take refuge in the Buddha
- I take refuge in the Dharma
- I take refuge in the Sangha
The three jewels of Buddhism are the
- Buddha
- Dharma
- Sangha
1. Buddha – The Teacher
Buddha refers to the original teacher himself Lord Buddha to whom we should take refuge in our attempt to achieve salvation. Many people are of the belief that achieving salvation or enlightenment is an unthinkable task for the common people thereby considering these phases as very mystical. In an attempt to show an example for all of us, Lord Buddha displayed the twelve acts of Buddha namely
- Descent
- Conception
- Birth
- Upbringing
- Princely life
- Renunciation
- Austerity
- Adopting middle way
- Overcoming evil
- Enlightenment
- Teaching
- Passing away
Through these twelve acts, Lord Buddha wanted to show that he was not a god, but a human being like us. Through rigorous self-control and concentration, it was possible for all human beings to achieve salvation as he did. He wanted us to derive inspiration from his life and thus move towards the holy path of enlightenment.
2. Dharma – The Teaching
The Buddha dharma constitutes the whole teachings which was developed much before the 2600 years. It includes the vast body of all the pearls of wisdom the Lord Buddha himself taught, the four noble truths, the three marks of existence, the eightfold path, etc. In his teachings, he had always maintained all of us to examine his philosophies for it was marked on the basis of our ultimate reality.
“O bhikshus and wise men, just as a goldsmith would test his gold by burning, cutting, and rubbing it, so you must examine my words and accept them, but not merely out of reverence for me.”
Lord Buddha
To make it plainer, Dharma means the thing or an object in a conventional sense. Again by taking refuge in the Dharma propagated by Lord Buddha will take us to the path of salvation.
3. Sangha – The Community
The Sangha refers to the monastic or the spiritual community. Understanding Buddhism as a way of approaching life rather than an abstract philosophy or creed, we need constant guidance, support, and friendship from whom we can learn the philosophies propagated long by Lord Buddha himself. The Sangha in a smaller sensor can be inclined towards a particular spiritual community or in the broadest sense can be the all Buddhist in the world, and all those in the past and the future.
The network or the community of Sangha is based upon the trust relationship with compassion, kindness, renunciation as its foundational basis. By allowing refuge to those who have no refuge thereby bringing their life back to dharma with our ultimate goal of achieving salvation. Our paths do look incomplete with the omission of Sangha, with all three nurtured together, they will lead to an unmovable liberation from the world of attachments.
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